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(Check back Friday afternoon for a Texas Tech-Texas preview.)

(8) Nebraska vs (29) Indiana – 4:30 PM

One game to go. Nebraska will claim a shock league title with a win over Indiana on Friday, while a draw will be good enough to see them grab at least a share of the crown. After defeat to title rivals Michigan, Nebraska has won five straight matches to rise to the brink of the league title. How the Huskers are going to come up with an encore after their last win is anybody’s guess after their heart stopping triumph over Penn State last Sunday. Nebraska was down 1-0 after a few minutes in the second half before scoring two goals to take the lead into the final two minutes of the match. Maya Hayes would equalize and suck the air out of the stadium in Lincoln, but Nebraska showed they were made of the sternest stuff when Jaycie Johnson continued her amazing freshman season by netting her ninth of the season on a fabulous individual effort to send the home crowd into hysterics. Johnson and Jordan Jackson were an absolute nightmare for PSU’s defense to deal with, fueling the huge win. On the other hand, the Huskers’ defense was a lot shakier than usual, letting Maya Hayes have four shots on goal, including the equalizer late. Indiana doesn’t have that type of firepower, but the Hoosiers are still more than capable of putting it in the back of the net. More than anything though, Friday will be about pressure, more specifically, how the Huskers deal with it. This is the biggest game the program’s had in ages. If Nebraska can play up to the potential they’ve shown all season, the league title will surely be coming to Lincoln.

It’s already been a banner year for Indiana, who could finish third in the league with a win on Friday. I’m guessing few would’ve believed you if you had said as such at the beginning of the season with new coach Amy Berbary taking over a program that hadn’t seriously challenged for an NCAA Tournament berth since 2009. The Hoosiers are almost assured of going dancing this season though, and they’re finishing on a high after winning their last three going into Friday. The biggest win of that stretch came last weekend, when the Hoosiers struck late against Wisconsin to wrap up their spot in officially in the Big Ten Tournament. Truthfully, it wasn’t the best day in front of goal for Indiana, putting just two shots on goal (and one on the bar), but Abby Smith’s fifth of the season was just enough for an Indiana win. The defense bent but didn’t break, with the club also managing the impressive feat of holding both Rose Lavelle and Cara Walls without a single shot on goal. They’ll likely need much more of that form on Friday if they hope to rain on Nebraska’s title parade, given the amount of firepower the Huskers bring to the table. Conceivably, Indiana could make a run at a national seed if they win this one and make a deep run in the Big Ten Tournament next week. Berbary’s probably keeping her side grounded though and taking things one game at a time. If Indiana can pull off the upset on Friday though, the Hoosiers will be riding into Champaign and the conference tournament sky high.

(26) Washington State vs (43) Cal – 5:00 PM

Cal’s battle with the bubble will continue on Friday afternoon against Washington State in Pullman. The Golden Bears faced off against Oregon on Monday in what might have seemed like an afterthought at the time but which now could mean all the difference between an NCAA Tournament spot and a long Winter. The Golden Bears went down in defeat to the Ducks, 1-0, marking the fifth straight match without a win for a side that is in desperate need of a win to stop this late season slide. The maddening part for Neil McGuire and the Golden Bears has to be the fact that the club hasn’t given up multiple goals for nine straight games, meaning that Cal isn’t being blown out of the water. Still though, Cal also hasn’t kept a clean sheet in October, and with the offense having gone into the tank, it’s made for a deadly combination that’s seen the Golden Bears plummet in the Pac-12 and in the RPI. The match against Oregon was a close run thing, but the Golden Bears just couldn’t find the back of the net, despite Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick and Ifeoma Onumonu combining for five shots on goal. Onumonu’s found it tougher in her sophomore season, with just eight goals thus far after last year’s amazing rookie season. That includes a goalless streak in the league that now stretches five games, which has to be a big worry going into the final few games of the regular season. Also worrying is the defensive situation. Emily Kruger in goal, and center-back Nina Pedersen and right-back Ariana Martinez are all in doubt for the weekend, with the first two suffering from concussions, with Martinez nursing a hamstring injury. Against a side featuring Micaela Castain, a makeshift defense would not be an asset. But Cal has to find results somewhere. The last thing this club wants is to go into the rivalry game against Stanford needing a win.

Wins at the Arizona schools pretty much locked up an at-large bid for Washington State last weekend to the relief of Cougar supporters, who had probably begun fidgeting a bit after two successive defeat to Utah and Oregon State. WSU needed a response and got one in a 4-0 mauling of Arizona to open up last weekend. The match against Arizona State was a whole lot closer, with the Cougars digging deep to quiet the volatile Sun Devil attack and taking advantage of one of the chances that came their way, with Cara Wegner netting the game’s only goal. It was Wegner’s second straight winner after she had netted the opener against Arizona a few days earlier. Considering the Cougars have been starving for a scorer to take the load off of Castain, Wegner’s emergence as a real threat has been a godsend for the club as they head down the stretch. The attack now has scored multiple goals in four of the last six and has only been shutout once in that span. The defense also did a great job of recovering and pitching a couple of clean sheets after two games where they gave up five combined goals. Theoretically, WSU could be within seed range if they run the table and beat Cal, along with Stanford and Washington. It’s still a longshot, but if these Cougars can get on a roll, who knows?

(56) Arizona State vs (21) Colorado – 10:00 PM

Colorado will hope to make one last push towards a national seed during these final few games after a breakthrough season under the tutelage of Danny Sanchez. The Buffs have their highest win total since they last made the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and have all but locked themselves into the Big Dance with time to spare this season. That’s not to say Colorado’s form has been all that good recently. Far from it in fact, as the Buffs have gone 2-2-1 in their last five, which has curbed some of their hopes of sealing a surprising national seed. In reality, the Buffs could probably be forgiven for dropping a game against UCLA last time out, as the Boulder side ran the Bruins tough before losing, 1-0. Sanchez’s side were able to go into the half tied at 0-0 before a Kodi Lavrusky goal early in the second half forced the Buffs to press for an equalizer that just wasn’t coming. The last three games do look agreeable in terms of opponent strength, but Colorado does have to deal with three straight games on the road, making for six of eight away from home to finish out the season, a tough stretch for anyone, let alone a still learning side. Colorado probably isn’t odds on to finish with a national seed, but any hopes probably rest on winning out in their remaining Pac-12 games. That means operating with a full complement of players, so defender Alex Huynh, on four bookings, will have to be walking a careful tightrope against a combative Arizona State side.

Arizona State finds itself in a world of trouble with three games remaining, as their four game winless streak couldn’t have come at a worse time. With just a win over Stanford to tout on their resume, a record standing at just one game over .500, and a sliding RPI, the Sun Devils may be in last chance saloon if they can’t get some positive results at home against the Rocky Mountain schools this weekend. After a scoreless draw that didn’t do much for ASU or Washington’s at-large hopes, Arizona State’s offense again fired blanks, putting just six of eighteen shots on goal and seeing the normally explosive duo of Devin Marshall and Cali Farquharson held to just one shot a goal apiece. ASU has now gone without a goal in four straight and hasn’t managed multiple goals in ten of their last eleven. It seems safe to say that the Sun Devils’ offense has been found out, but the Tempe side are going to have to find a way to start scoring if they want their season to continue beyond next weekend. The defense has actually played reasonably well as of late, being hit for multiple goals just once in the past six, that coming against UCLA, while also keeping three clean sheets. But if the offense keeps throwing up bagels, it’s awfully hard seeing this club making the cut come Selection Monday. Given the rather sparse resume ASU is currently sporting, a win over Colorado could prove priceless in the end. In their current form though, the Sun Devils aren’t inspiring much confidence and will need something special to emerge with three points.

(33) Texas Tech vs (35) Texas – 8:00 PM

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